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WORKERS SAY PLANT ELIGIBLE FOR $2 BILLION IN PUBLIC FUNDS IS UNION
BUSTING  
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Kalena Thomhave
September 2, 2024
Capital and Main
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_ Eos’ Pittsburgh-area battery plant got subsidies aimed at “good
clean jobs.” Its workers say they’re getting fired for unionizing.
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The Keystone Commons industrial park in the Pittsburgh suburb of
Turtle Creek is home to a zinc battery plant operated by Eos Energy
Enterprises, Photo: Kalena Thomhave.

 

WHEN STAN UPSHAW got a job at Eos Energy Enterprises Inc. in 2020, he
hoped for good pay and benefits, like the ones that went to union
workers who decades ago built American manufacturing. After all,
Eos’ zinc battery plant in the Pittsburgh suburb of Turtle Creek had
already received a nearly $400 million
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loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, as well as millions
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subsidies through the Inflation Reduction Act.

At Eos, Upshaw said he didn’t see the “good clean jobs
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was meant to create. Instead, he saw management ignore seniority —
and force workers to train new supervisors rather than promote from
within, he said. The work felt dangerous, too. “We’re having
people getting their fingers pinched [under batteries and] working
under very hot, humid conditions [where] we’re almost tripping over
each other, ” he said.

So earlier this year, Upshaw and some of his coworkers began to push
for representation by the United Steelworkers union. In early August,
they filed a petition to hold a union election; on Sept. 5, they’ll
cast their votes and test whether reality in Turtle Creek matches the
talk about the Inflation Reduction Act’s good jobs. 

In an emailed statement, Chad FitzGerald, Eos vice president of
strategic partnerships and public affairs, said that the company is
“a pro-union company,” adding, “We respect our employees’
right to choose or not choose to have a labor representative.”

“I know they’re going to try everything in their power to deter
people away from voting for this unit,” Upshaw said shortly after
Eos workers filed a petition
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Relations Board for a union election. 

Just a week after we spoke, Upshaw and another outspoken union
organizer were fired.

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THE 2022 INFLATION REDUCTION ACT represented a public investment of
hundreds of billions
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dollars aimed at combating climate change while also creating
“good-paying union jobs
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The potential effect is huge, say observers. The Inflation Reduction
Act and other federal legislation will create 8.5 million jobs
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2032 — 849,000 per year, according to a recent study by the
Political Economy Research Institute at the University of
Massachusetts Amherst. 

As for what _kinds_ of jobs those should be, the “labor standards
built into [President Joe Biden’s industrial policy] are aimed at
ensuring stronger protection for workers’ rights and allowing these
federal investments to translate into more good, union jobs,” said
Stephen Herzenberg, executive director at Keystone Research Center in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, “That’s what should happen.” 

When U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) announced
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Department of Energy loan award, he called Eos “the kind of project
we had in mind” when Congress passed the legislation. (Casey had
successfully pushed for well-paid clean energy jobs as part of the
Inflation Reduction Act.) He went on to call the loan “not only an
investment in cutting edge technology, but also in Pennsylvania
workers.”

That investment has clearly benefited Eos, which received the
legislation’s 45X tax credit, meant to incentivize production of
alternative energy systems such as batteries. If Eos expands its
production capacity as planned
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the $398.6 million
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of Energy loan, the company will be eligible for up to $1.98 billion
in 45X tax credits
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2026 and 2032 alone.

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THE WORKERS PUSHING for a union at Eos say the company’s focus
on “green-collar” jobs
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created good jobs.

Eos workers say entry-level wages are around $18 an hour — well
above the state minimum wage of $7.25. But workers say pay isn’t the
only thing they care about. While many union supporters want higher
wages, especially for senior employees, they say they also want to be
treated well and with respect. 

“You can’t even breathe wrong without [Eos management] saying that
they want to write you up for something,” Upshaw said. Originally,
he said, the company had a seven-minute grace period when clocking in
or out of work. Then, shortly after the union effort began, Eos got
rid of the grace period; the change is now cited in an unfair labor
practice the union filed against Eos in June. “Our attendance policy
has not changed in relation to union organizing,” FitzGerald said in
an email, explaining that the company adopted a new attendance policy
due to “our new manufacturing line launching and our expected
dramatic growth in production.”

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BY LATE AUGUST, the Steelworkers had filed
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practice charges on behalf of Eos workers with the National Labor
Relations Board, which governs union activity. 

Three of the charges concerned the firing of union supporters. In May,
the Steelworkers charged that the company fired one of the most vocal
union supporters in retaliation for her union work. In August, the
Steelworkers filed charges documenting what it said were the illegal
firings of Upshaw and his coworker, LaToya Hampton, for union
activities.

The union also charged that the company retaliated against union
organizing by denying workers pay when it shut down production for a
day without warning. Union supporters said the company learned of
organizers’ plans to talk to workers outside the plant and canceled
shifts and sent workers home to prevent them from doing so. 

Eos’ FitzGerald denied that, saying in an email that shifts were
canceled to facilitate transition to a new production line and that
affected workers were reimbursed for their lost wages or given paid
time off. (Union supporters point out that reimbursement came after
the union filed unfair labor practice charges.) FitzGerald also said
“Eos has not taken any actions against any employees in connection
with the union campaign.”

The five unfair labor practice charges are pending.

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MEANWHILE, EOS’ UNION SUPPORTERS are working toward an election.
“I believe all of our opinions [and] words will have power once we
establish a union,” said Christian Hickman, a quality control worker
at Eos. “We just want to just improve the company [and] make sure
everyone’s needs are met. I think our voices will be heard.”

* union busting
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* Inflation Reducation Act
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* government subsidies
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